“Not expecting anything,” Iga Swiatek gives shocking take on her movement to raise eyebrows after Madrid Open exit
Iga Swiatek will drop to World No. 3 if Coco Gauff wins the Madrid Open finals.
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Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Game, Set & Talk)
Iga Swiatek’s heartbreak this season continued as she faced one of her worst defeats on clay at the Madrid Open semifinals. The defending champion had a tough run in the Spanish capital, where she came from a set down to overcome 19-year-old Alexandra Eala during her opening round match.
In the quarterfinals she had a hard-fought victory over Madison Keys, who bagelled her in the first set. It was highly uncharacteristic of the Pole, who is known to be an accomplished baker in tennis and was last bagelled four years ago.
Hopefully one day it’s going to click, but I’m not expecting anything, I’m just going to try to work.
Iga Swiatek told the press
Swiatek entered into her fourth semifinal of the season with a 11-3 head-to-head record over her opponent, Coco Gauff. Moreover, the World No. 2 was 5-0 on clay against Gauff. Gauff, on the other hand, had a very poor 2025 season until then, not reaching the semifinal of any tournament this year.
However, none of these statistics mattered as Gauff decimated Swiatek with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the semifinals. The World No. 2 was visibly heartbroken by her lack of form throughout the match as she put a towel on her head and sobbed when she was trailing 3-0 in the second set.
Iga Swiatek has been in a title drought since the 2024 Roland Garros
Iga Swiatek has been in deep waters throughout the season. She has been on a title drought since the 2024 Roland Garros and has failed to reach the finals of any tournament since then. Entering as the three-time defending champion, she was unable to defend her Qatar Open title. She was also unable to defend her Indian Wells title, which if she had succeeded in, she would’ve become the first woman to clinch three Indian Wells titles.
There was much hope that Swiatek would bounce back on her favorite surface during the clay season, however, she has failed to deliver here too as of yet. She is also on thin ice when it comes to the WTA rankings.
If Coco Gauff wins the Madrid Open finals, she will overtake Swiatek for World No. 2. The Pole has not been ranked outside the top two since March 21, 2022. Even if Gauff is unable to win the final, Swiatek’s ranking is still under threat over the next month and a half as she is defending 1,000 points as the Italian Open champion and 2,000 points as the reigning Roland Garros champion.
Coco Gauff will face Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open finals
After a nearly flawless semifinal outing, Coco Gauff will be up against a player who has reached six finals this season, winning two of them. Aryna Sabalenka booked her spot in the Madrid Open final after a straight-set victory over Elina Svitolina.
Prior to Madrid, the World No. 1 progressed to the finals of the Brisbane International, Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami Open, and Stuttgart Open. She triumphed in Brisbane and Miami. Gauff has a 5-4 head-to-head record over the Belarusian. They have only met once before on clay at the round of 16 of the 2021 Rome Masters, where Gauff won.
While Gauff will be playing the Madrid Open final for the first time, for Sabalenka, it marks her fourth final following the 2021, 2023, and 2024 seasons. Sabalenka is a two-time champion in Madrid. She won her first clay title in 2021 at the Madrid Open, where she defeated Ashleigh Barty in the finals. In 2023, she defeated Iga Swiatek to clinch the Madrid Open title.
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